What will happen to the Middle East if Iraq becomes a strong,moral democracy with a strong military force?

Iraq IS going to be a strong democracy someday. Unfortunately it will be run by Shiites who will join Iran and Syria and who will eventually control the middle east. That's probably closer to happening than people think.

You're talking about apples and oranges.

Those countries in the Middle East and Central Asia have witnessed the ebb and flow of conquest by at least a dozen different ethnic peoples. The National borders that exist there now are completely arbitrary, and don't reflect the Religious, Political, or Ethnic groupings that exist on the ground cheek by jowl.

As cited by many sources, the Kurds inhabit Northern Iraq, Turkey, and Iran.

Recently, the Azeri people ( who are as Aryan as any European, American, or Russian ) have come to mind, they inhabit Azerbaijan, but are also a large minority within Iran.

This, of course is to say nothing about Jews, Christians, Turkmen, or a number of other minority populations spread across the region.

Bringing Democracy to lands that have been divided by Race, Culture, and Religion for thousands of years will prove to be the work of generations, not Administrations.

This question reminds me of one of those auto repair manuals.

HOW TO REPAIR AN AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION:

Step 1. Now that you have the transmission removed and disassembled on the work bench, identify which part is defective & replace with new or rebuilt part.

Step 2. Now that the transmission is reinstalled, check for minor fluid leaks.

Your quote from above: "my view is that freedom is so strong among humans that it can survive and will flourish if it is given some support."

My answer: At one time I too was convinced that democracy could flourish if given 'room to breath' and that a new, free Arab society was attainable. But as this adventure has progressed, I have observed several things that have acted as an agent of change. 'Realpolitk' is a term that I have become more familair with in this situation. Theory is just that, untested ideas. A fact is proved by evidence. History is against us in this endeavor.

1.) To have a democracy there must first be a seed already planted, or saved and revered. The idea of individual freedom must be 'desired' and 'sought-out' prior to deployment. It cannot be given to those who have no use for it. The Arabian/Persian ideal of freedom of religion and our founding fathers freedom of religion ideals are in direct conflict. These are not desendants of the Greeks, Romans, French or Irish all longing for individual freedoms. Apparently, for some cultures, democratic freedoms are unattainable, if not undesirable.

2.) 'Tribal revenge' and 'community standards of justice' are diametrically opposed.

3.) The lessons of the past are repeated by overeducated foreign policy neophytes. From the Balkens to Southeast Asia, and a few places in between, taught us that regional tribal conflicts in tribal cultures are a death-pill for democracy.

I wish that it weren't so. I wish that we had gone in and taken control of the situation from the beginning. The 'Pottery Barn Doctrine' seems to have been true after all. But we didn't; and they didn't; and we are dying for a lost cause, AGAIN! How foolish. Bungling ineptitude. Segregated sacrifice.

We will be reaping the consequences of this excursion for 50 years or more. I'd like to believe that we had noble designs in

the beginning but now I doubt that too. But after Guantanamo Bay, suspension of habius corpus, the Abu Grab prison abuse, unconstitutional renditions, government silence, no bid contracts, lies.

What are we fighting for, if not the very core ideals of justice and fairness for all? Our forebearers fled an oppressive government. What type of government are we backing in Iraq?

Let's hope and pray that we don't embody the hate and intolerence now directed at us by our enemies. J/S

[1] America's famous historian Arthur M. Schlesinger Jr. wrote despairingly of America's repeated invasions of Third World countries of little consequence. In The New York Times, he wrote: "Three decades ago, we suffered defeat in an unwinnable war against tribalism, the most fanatic of political emotions, fighting against a country about which we knew nothing and in which we had no vital interest. Vietnam was hopeless enough, but to repeat the same arrogant folly 30 years later is unforgivable."

Man wouldn't that be great for progress, they would actually have toilets for the public? Hey great tourism in the Holy City? Oh wait we have to eliminate Syria, Libya, and must do something about he Palestinians right? After all they are a problem to? They hate Jesus too. So I think we should go to all those places too, how's that and make them build toilets, and live like civilized humans and get a tooth brush with tooth paste and gargle and maybe they will have teeth for the future generations. Why have children and make them suffer? That is disgusting. How can anyone live like that for 1000's of years and have babies over and over again and make them live in squallier

Iraq is now nominally a republic, and democracy is no guarantee of anything, contrary to what our politicians would have you believe. The former Soviet Union, the People's REPUBLIC of China, and the Islamic REPUBLIC of Iran are all forms of democracy. The former government of Iraq and the nation of Libya were both governed by forms of democracy. Adolph Hitler rose to power under a form of democracy.

A Muslim majority and a democracy do not mix. If you have mostly muslims they will set it up according to their beliefs system which would be non-tolerant of other religion. They already think it's ok to kill others who don't believe the way they do. I think a generation, a new one, need to taste freedom and they will grow with a more changed attitude. I think you cannot have a solid democracy without people comming together for a common cause of democracy and making that a priority in what they want to govern them. Are these people educated or oppressed. I don't know the average Iraqi. I sit save at home watching pictures on tv and the internet of people with guns people being blown up .bombs going off suicide bommers, people crying, people wailing, I see pain and I see suffering. Is it media spin is it my consience is i my inner weeping I don't know I wish we could just drop it all and say I will pratice my religion you pratice yours and let's forget about this war crap and all try to get along. I would be fooling myself if I believed it could happen for In my imagining of a Lee Press on reality I am left with the sad reality there will always be someone who is hellbent on killing me just becasue I am American, or White, or have red hair. Woe to the earth and pray we don't blow ourselves all to hell.

Yes it would be very good for the region, that is one of the outcomes we are working for.

I would think that it would be a stabilizing effect for the region.

I guess we can dream.

Why debate this issue......it's not going to happen!